Single Day Recruit
by innocent-rebel
Summary: SAINW verse. When the resistance's numbers start dropping, Angel makes a visit to Raphael in an attempt to recruit him as a permanent member. Please R&R. oneshot.


Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT.

A/N: Yeah...I have nooooo idea where this came from. I think I just wanted to write something. So here ya go. Hope you like it! Oh, and I know that Don was missing for thirty years, but this thing takes place ten years before he reappears, if that makes sense. Anyways! Onto the story!

X

They needed her to do this. There was no other way to put it. Their numbers were dwindling and they needed help! He would understand...

So why did she feel like such an idiot?!

Angel shook her head as she stole through the shadowed trees towards the beaten end of town. The last place that seemed to remain free, but was in itself a mockery. Shredder only kept it up to show people what freedom looked like. Or what he made it to look like.

Her lips twisted in a snarl as she thought of that alien. The sounds overhead blared.

"The Shredder is always watching!"

She made a crude hand signal hoping he'd see that! Curses flooded her mind, but she pushed them away. Getting angry right now wouldn't help her. She had to be on top alert. There didn't seem to be any Karai-bots around but that didn't mean they weren't there! Waiting. Just like Shredder had waited and then...

Her hand gripped her gun for a feeling of safety and release. That day had been a nightmare. So many had died. Then the ones who survived were forced into slavery! Maybe she could remind him of that? It'd be horrible, but she needed to do something! To get him angry so he'd come and help them! And not as a solo soldier, but as someone who worked on the team!

Then again, ever since Donny disappeared and Master Splinter died, teams stopped being his thing.

Sighing, she pressed on. Ducking down and as she came closer, sliding her gun out of it's holster. It felt comfortable laying against her chest. Seconds later, she came to a treeless patch that led to the place he was. Not even ten feet away, and it was the most dangerous place to cross. There was no cover. Not even a building left standing in this area. The buildings on the other side weren't doing that good either. All but one had lost its original roof, and split concrete made it hard to even walk.

But it was still the place he chose. Still his spot. Angel wondered if maybe that wasn't the actual reason it still stood. Not because of Shredder. But because it was his spot and no one was going to take it away from him!

After a quick five minute surveillance of the area, Angel sucked in a deep breath, then prepared to step out...and jumped back just in time.

A helicopter flew over, it's large light scanning the ground for activity. She pushed her back hard up against the tree, hoping they wouldn't send soldiers down for a more thorough search. Of course if they'd seen her they would. If they even suspected...

Her heart was in her throat, and her stomach felt like a sack of rocks. Her lips moved in a silent prayer. To who she didn't know, but she hoped they could hear her and cared!

Minutes later, the area was clear, the sounds of the helicopter fading with no soldiers to speak of. She sighed, relieved.

Then without waiting, booked it across the barren landscape. Her footsteps crushing whatever vegetation had sprung up between the cracks.

Mikey would be angry if he knew she'd crushed them. He was always kept an eye out for little flowers for Master Splinter's grave. Of course he never said that openly or acted much like it. He had a hard front now. Hard for even him to get past. Sometimes it seemed like he lost the ability to smile all together.

But then there were moments when he was just with one or two people. Usually her or April, and he'd smile. It was a rougher smile. Tainted. But it was comforting, and whenever he did that, she could always see a bit of the Mikey she used to know.

Hopefully his brother was the same. How many years had it been since she'd seen him? Three, she thought. But it could have been longer. Days lost their meaning after awhile.

A part of her wondered if he'd even be here...but then she shook it off. She knew he would. This was his place.

Once she made it to the safety of the decaying buildings, she crept along the shadowed alleyways, searching for his door. Careful not to step on any booby traps. Something he was famous for.

"Raphael?" she whispered as if he might be out and around. "Raphael..."

Was she crazy? She knew he never came out except at night! Shaking it off, she turned down another corner then gasped and began firing as she saw one of Shredders goons. After she was sure she'd gotten him, she looked back to see if there were more...

Then saw he'd already been dead. He was suspended three feet off the ground. His eyes open, and neck at an odd angle.

Angel felt sick. But whether that was because of what she knew Raph did or because she wished she'd done it, she didn't know! At least it meant he was still...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

She turned just in time to see a shadow coming out of nowhere and crash into her. Sending her to the ground, and pinning her gun on top of her. A Sai flashed.

"I thought I told ya punks ta stay away! Didn'tcha get the messa...Angel..." his weapon hovered an inch from her throat. "Angel..."

"It's me, Raph. It's me." she said as calmly as she could. Inside though her heart was pounding and she wanted nothing more than to push him away. But she stayed still while he processed all of this...while he took the time to make sure it was her.

Not half a minute later did his Sai drop to ground and he picked himself up.

"Angel...I...ya should warn a guy when yer gonna come!" he changed the fear of what he'd almost done into anger. His fists balling up and his one good eye narrowing.

She nodded, picking herself up and handing him his Sai.

"I know...but there was no way to contact you. Or else I would have." her voice was as strong as she could make it to cover her fear. He took his weapon back and slid it into his belt before taking a shuddering breath and shaking his head.

"Sorry 'bout that kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Angel rolled her eyes. It had been almost twenty years since everything happened!

Raph chuckled.

"Sure about that." he gave her the once over. She was taller now, and more muscular than before. Her shocking purple hair had faded back to it's original brown color and was now cut short and close to her head in the back. She had her scars, just like he had his. The one with the worst memory for him and her was on her upper left cheek that extended to her neck. It was from the day he'd lost his father, and she'd lost her brother.

Before memories could swallow him, he ruffled her hair.

"Come on inside, Angel. We'll talk more in there."

The woman nodded, following him past the hanging corpse he hit and into the side door of a ground level apartment.

X

Despite the fact they lived in a desolate city on a destroyed world, his apartment could fool almost anyone. It would have been bare, save for a salvaged punching bag, hand made weapons rack, an old radio and a trashed mattress next to it. But it was clean, and it was warm. And it was decently lit by the naked bulb hanging overhead.

"Nice digs." she grinned as she came in.

He smirked.

"Just don't go tellin' Mike. I'd never live it down if he found out I actually kept this place clean."

Angel smirked. That was one thing she loved about Raph! Somehow, he could get past his brother's hard exterior and still remember him as the goofy comic book loving prankster. She only wished he could remember Leo so fondly.

"How is he by the way? Ape doin' ok to?" he settled down on the floor and she plopped down in front of him.

"They're doing ok. April told me tell you hi, and Mikey..." she dropped her gaze.

"What?! Is somethin' wrong?!" his heart sped up almost audibly.

"No...it's just...he misses you is all." her words took him aback, but she didn't wait for him to recover. "He won't show it. Doesn't show much of anything any more...but I can tell. He misses you. All of you..."

"Even the coward?" Raph sneered.

Angel sighed.

"Yeah, Raph. Even Leo." she wouldn't say it to his face, but a part of her thought he did to. And they all missed Donny!

"Whatever...so what are ya doin' here? Just out ta shoot things?" his tone turned gruff as he folded his arms. "Got some advice. Next time pick somethin' that's still alive."

Touching on the subject of Leonardo was the surest way to upset the turtle in front of her. He'd never forgiven his brother for not letting them try to save their father and she doubted he ever would. From what she remembered of their talks before everything happened, he felt like he was in his brother's shadow. He loved Leo and his father. But he felt that in order to get the same thing...he had to be something he couldn't be. Not being able to save his father was just the last testament to how much he felt he failed him as a son.

Of course that was something Angel understood. Her own dad ran out on her and her brother when she was five. She couldn't even remember what happened to her mom. Only that her and her brother got sent to their grandma. But she never forgot what it felt like to find out and feel unwanted.

"I'll remember that. Actually, the reason I'm here has something to do with that..." she held his gaze tightly. "Shredder's forces are multiplying by the hundreds everyday! He's working to try and make some kind of...transmitter. Something to help him get off planet and he doesn't want anything to go wrong! Security's getting tighter, more people are dying and..."

"What is ya want, Angel? Just spit it out without the stats."

She took a deep breath.

"We want you to join us."

Raph's eye widened, then narrowed suspiciously.

"Ya mean...fer a day or somethin'?"

"No. I mean permanently. I know you don't want to but we need you..."

"Pass. If it's permanent, ferget it!" Raph stated and stood up, intending to end the conversation. But Angel caught his hand before he could leave. "Let go!"

"We. Need. You. I don't know how much clearer I can be! We need you Raph!" She held onto him as she stood up, knowing she was fighting an uphill battle. The thing was, he didn't simply not want to do it, he was terrified of doing it! Terrified of being back on a team and maybe remaking bonds he tried to convince himself he didn't need. However hard his life had been before, when his family broke...

It had done something to him. Something to his spirit and he never wanted that to happen again!

"I ain't good on teams, Angel! Ya know that! Shell, I'd probably get ya killed my first day!" he shook her off.

"Or maybe you'd save someone's life!" she didn't know why she was suddenly so angry. Coming over she knew he'd probably say no, but now that she'd had it confirmed...it hurt!

"Doubt that! Sorry I can't help ya, Angel. Tell Ape if it's a day thing, sure. If not..."

"You would have never run out on us before. If anyone needed help, you were always the first one they turned to! Do you remember how we met? When Casey was captured by the Dragons? He sent me to find you! You! Because he knew you would help!" her voice grew louder at the mention of their friend.

"That was over twenty years ago! When things were still right!"

"How do you think they'll ever be right again if nobody does anything?!"

"I am doin' somethin'! Everyday, I take out more of those goons!" he snarled as he whipped around. "And yer doin' somethin' by workin' on April's team! We're doin' somethin'! Just different somethin's!"

"If you needed me, I'd come." Angel said flatly, folding her arms.

"Heh. Now yer tryin' ta guilt me?"

"No. Just giving you the facts. We need you, Raphael. I need you! We're dying out there...and I know you don't want to. I know you'd hate it...but I didn't know who else to go to."

He turned away from her. Bringing up his shield against her soft pleading tone. Then he muttered.

"One day, Angel. One day. That's all I can give."

The woman sighed. It wasn't enough...but she knew that was all she could get for now. One day. Then maybe later, another day. And later another. Just a bunch of one days. But she had to take it.

"Fine. One day...but what if our mission takes longer?"

"Then one mission. But I ain't gonna be on nobody's team permanently! So don't put me with someone I might like!" he snapped, hiding the slight joke to ease the tension.

That was one of the surprising effects time had had on Raph. He still angered easily...but he cooled off even faster. Actually, she would say he was the one that could drop a grudge the easiest if it was with the right person.

"I'll make sure and tell April. But I wouldn't mind working with you. It's been awhile..."

"Ahhh, a smart aleck kid whose to big fer their boots. Sounds like someone who'd tick me off." he smirked.

"And an old hotheaded turtle is my dream come true." her eyes rolled, but her mouth twitched into a smile as she came closer and grabbed his hand. Their fingers didn't interlock, only their palms cupped in a way they'd found comfortable for years. "We're gonna put this world back together, Raph. It's just going to take..."

"A day at a time?" he smirked, something all to readable in his brown eye. The other reason he couldn't be on a team for long was because one day at a time was all he could handle. He couldn't plan ahead, or think about what might be when holding on now was hard enough! Every line on his face begged her to understand. To accept it. He didn't have anymore to give...and inside, it was killing him.

Angel tightened her grip, reading every line like a book.

"One day at a time, Raph. One day at a time."

The End

A/N: So yeah. Random SAINW thing with Raph and Angel interacting. Just wanted to write something like that. This kinda felt more like a drabble to me even though it's longer...but anyways. Hope it was ok. Please let me know!

Be blessed

your friend

innocent-rebel


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